Furbird Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I have been thinking about a tire warmer for the front tire on my dragbike. It's not so much that I absolutely need it, but it sure would be nice to have some way to keep the front tire warmed up so that I don't run into a situation where the front may slide due to a cold tire issue. I've seen some warmers on ebay, but since I don't need one for the rear, I was wondering if anybody knows of a way to fabricate one. One option would be making one out of the stuff you guys in cold climates have to keep your pipes warm in the winter, which I've seen a post once where somebody made heated gear out of that stuff. Any comments or suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrich Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I have a front for a 120 that is from a set that the rear warmer burned up and I was unable to get it repaired. If your interested I will dig it out and make sure it still works. We can figure out a price from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Maybe the softest compound front tire would be the way to go. I would think that dealing with a tire warmer round after round would get old. The pro stock guys don't even do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 jcrich, definitely interested. Let me know. I know a tire warmer would get old, but to me the most important thing is getting it warmed up in the first place. Once rounds start, they go pretty fast, it's getting to rounds that's the time killer. I went a couple of weeks ago and it was an hour to my first pass. Then another hour to second pass. Then over two hours to an actual elimination race. There's some big races coming up that are bike only, and once we get going, it's going to go through real quick. But I'm running a regular street radial tire on the front and that bias-ply slick on the rear. So I have a tire that takes a few miles of street time to wear up on the front and a slick that warms up in 2 seconds on the back. Yeah, doesn't work so good. I've also considered a really soft tire, and was actually looking at the Tomahawk DOT legal tire they have in their absolute softest compound. But once again, I still have no way to get any heat in it so I'd have a sticky tire that is still cold. I figure I'll give the warmer a shot first, which is why I'm wanting to figure out a way to do it inexpensively. If it works I could be on to something that can help others, and if it doesn't then it's no big loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrich Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I will get it out tonight and check it and send you some pics. PM me your email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 You considering running a Tomahawk tire on a drag bike? Aren't Tomahawk tires cheap retreads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Are you concerned about front tire traction coming out of the water box or down track? Front tires on drag-bikes don't see a lot of wear and therefore don't get replaced very often. Every two years or so I take a half-worn front tire from my street bike and put it on the drag-bike. This way the rubber stays somewhat fresh. An old tire can be worse than a cold one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 What woke me up is something that happened a couple of weeks ago when I raced at the track. I came out of my burnout and hit the front brake and the tire slid, which in all my years of drag racing has never happened, whether old tire or new, heat of day or cold of night. It damn near pitched me off because I was completely unprepared. Two weeks prior to that a guy I know, first pass of the night, did lowside his bike when his front tire locked up on the big end. Now those are both freak things, but if a tire warmer would alleviate that, then I'd put up with a little inconvenience for peace of mind. And I never EVER ride through the water. I pull around it and back in, or at my home track there are several lanes, 5 that enter in front of the water and two that loop around behind and through the water. In that case I can just pull straight out then back in. Regardless, the front tire never gets wet. On the Tomahawk thing, yes it is a retread. But they make the softest compound sportbike tire you can get, and their tires are good to 220MPH whereas on a good day I might trap 110 in the eighth. Again, the tire would still perform better with heat in it, so I'm going to try the warmer on what I have then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 On the Tomahawk thing, yes it is a retread. But they make the softest compound sportbike tire you can get, and their tires are good to 220MPH whereas on a good day I might trap 110 in the eighth. All I can say is Tomahawk tires scare me to death, especially in any racetrack situation. Paully had a Tomahawk rear tire on his Bird out in Arizona in 2005. After a few hours, it was painfully clear that the tire was garbage. Unusual wear and uneven chicken srips proved that the damn tire wasn't even round! Brett might even have a pic. Buy a real tire, even if it's not as soft as the Hawk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrated Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I'm not sure where you got your info on the 'Hawk being rated to 220 MPH, but if anything, I would say.....220 KPH....which is like 136 MPH. Tomahawk's are total junk and I wouldn't just walk away from them.........I'd run like hell!! YMMV! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 What woke me up is something that happened a couple of weeks ago when I raced at the track. I came out of my burnout and hit the front brake and the tire slid, which in all my years of drag racing has never happened, whether old tire or new, heat of day or cold of night. It damn near pitched me off because I was completely unprepared. Two weeks prior to that a guy I know, first pass of the night, did lowside his bike when his front tire locked up on the big end. Now those are both freak things, but if a tire warmer would alleviate that, then I'd put up with a little inconvenience for peace of mind. And I never EVER ride through the water. I pull around it and back in, or at my home track there are several lanes, 5 that enter in front of the water and two that loop around behind and through the water. In that case I can just pull straight out then back in. Regardless, the front tire never gets wet. On the Tomahawk thing, yes it is a retread. But they make the softest compound sportbike tire you can get, and their tires are good to 220MPH whereas on a good day I might trap 110 in the eighth. Again, the tire would still perform better with heat in it, so I'm going to try the warmer on what I have then go from there. Are you sure some one else didn't leave a little water out in front of the box or maybe some oil? I've never dumped mine coming out of the water box, but have gotten close a couple of times. I almost crashed a couple of years ago on the big end also because I grabbed the front brake a little too hard trying not to break out. I had a strap on the front forks which means you have no "brake feel". The front end started drifting to one side so I gave it a little counter-steering and nothing happened. My brain finally figured out what was going on and I just let go of the lever. Had a little wobble I had to fight through and then all was fine. This all happened in about a half second. Two days later the 6 year old Dunlop D205 I had on it went in the trash. I got rid of the front strap also starting this season. I'm with Byrdman, don't buy a Tomahawk. Try a soft compound Shinko. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 OK, so the Tomahawk is out it seems. jcrich and I are talking about a deal on his old warmer, and I'll start looking into another tire company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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